My cat and a glass lid, will he break it?

Hi! So I just revamped my 20 gallon long with a glass aqairum lid. Just an average aqueon one nothing fancy, but I have a little tubby cat named chaos who loves his fishy friends and loves drinking their water even more (if I could watch him 24/7 I'd make him stop everytime, but alas I do have to sleep sometimes) Anyways! He weighs about 14 lbs and he got up on my old tank lid, but that lid was a tank within itself almost.....I don't know if he'll brave the new one, but does anyone know if he will cause a blowout in my tank by getting up on the lid?

 

Shouldn't. My cats spent plenty of time one my glass lid that size, always jumping onto it.

 

Shouldn't. My cats spent plenty of time one my glass lid that size, always jumping onto it.

Thank you he loves the tank

 

How thick is the piece of glass, if the lid is made from less than 6mm glass I would be careful.

 

How thick is the piece of glass, if the lid is made from less than 6mm glass I would be careful.

I don't know it's the aqueon 30 by 12, it is relatively thin. Like I said I don't know if he'll get up there but he might. I kept my old lighting just In case something happens

 

My cat didn't break the lid, he broke the tank with the lid.

She jumped down from the top of a china cabinet onto the lid, dislodging it.
The lid fell in the tank (along with the cat).

The corner of the lid must have hit the inside of the tank just right (or wrong lol) and crack!

She jumped down from a couple feet though, not just up onto it.

 

I don't know it's the aqueon 30 by 12, it is relatively thin. Like I said I don't know if he'll get up there but he might. I kept my old lighting just In case something happens

Our little girl lives on the top of our tank but the supports she sits on are all around 6mm thick


I built this tank just for her,

 

Our little girl lives on the top of our tank but the supports she sits on are all around 6mm thick
View attachment 865819
I built this tank just for her,
View attachment 865821

How much for you to build me a lid? Lol

How much for you to build me a lid? Lok

Also she's adorable heres my little boy or my fatty I should say

My cat didn't break the lid, he broke the tank with the lid.

She jumped down from the top of a china cabinet onto the lid, dislodging it.
The lid fell in the tank (along with the cat).

The corner of the lid must have hit the inside of the tank just right (or wrong lol) and crack!

She jumped down from a couple feet though, not just up onto it.

There's nothing for him to jump down from the tank is the highest thing around, it's sitting on a very old solid oak desk and he occasionally gets on top of it at night to drink from it at least thats what I think he does bc I've seen him do it during the day

 

Should it in terms of pure physics assuming everything is proper? No. No it should not.

But it is a cat and you used the word would. So would your cat break it? Would your cat swat a vase over just because? There ya go lol


It should not break, unless your cat wants to break it lol

 

I have always had a table and chairs around the tanks so she can get up and down. The old girl is 21 so she is now, only allowed on the tank under human supervision.

 

Well all I've decoded for ascetic reasons to keep the glass lid but also to just put thr old lid on at night for safety reasons. Nothings happened with that lid on so I know it supports him. I'm too scared he'll break the tank now and my girlfriend will freak and won't let me have them anymore lol. She would lose her mind if the yank exploded all over our condo

I have always had a table and chairs around the tanks so she can get up and down. The old girl is 21 so she is now, only allowed on the tank under human supervision.

He gets on at night when I can't watch him though and he has a desk to sit on but the fishy water is retrievable from the top of the tank lol

Should it in terms of pure physics assuming everything is proper? No. No it should not.

But it is a cat and you used the word would. So would your cat break it? Would your cat swat a vase over just because? There ya go lol


It should not break, unless your cat wants to break it lol

Well for physics reason I went to putting the old tank lid back on at night. He hasn't done anything to the tank with that thing on. For now I'll just put the glass lid back on during the day when we can watch him

 

Well all I've decoded for ascetic reasons to keep the glass lid but also to just put thr old lid on at night for safety reasons. Nothings happened with that lid on so I know it supports him. I'm too scared he'll break the tank now and my girlfriend will freak and won't let me have them anymore lol. She would lose her mind if the yank exploded all over our condo

He gets on at night when I can't watch him though and he has a desk to sit on but the fishy water is retrievable from the top of the tank lol

Well for physics reason I went to putting the old tank lid back on at night. He hasn't done anything to the tank with that thing on. For now I'll just put the glass lid back on during the day when we can watch him

That exploding tank thing won't happen, the worst thing that will happen is the cat falls in the tank and gets wet.

 

You can prevent the cat from going up there a couple of ways:

1. Pepper on the glass. Messy it but works.

2. Cover the glass with double sided tape. This is very annoying to the cat and will not hurt it.

 

Well all I've decoded for ascetic reasons to keep the glass lid but also to just put thr old lid on at night for safety reasons. Nothings happened with that lid on so I know it supports him. I'm too scared he'll break the tank now and my girlfriend will freak and won't let me have them anymore lol. She would lose her mind if the yank exploded all over our condo

He gets on at night when I can't watch him though and he has a desk to sit on but the fishy water is retrievable from the top of the tank lol

Well for physics reason I went to putting the old tank lid back on at night. He hasn't done anything to the tank with that thing on. For now I'll just put the glass lid back on during the day when we can watch him

My concern would mostly be in how well the center is supported. Glass can actually flex a lot more than you’d expect lol If it’s fully supported it should be fine. A 20 long is a bit, er, long. So as long as the center has support, should be good as the force wound transmit evenly through the walls and to the base.

 

That exploding tank thing won't happen, the worst thing that will happen is the cat falls in the tank and gets wet.

I think the worst thing that can happen if the glass lid breaks is that the cat can get seriously injured on the broken glass while in panic.

 

I dunno about the glass lid or if the cat could break the tank or not, but you should not allow the cat to drink the tank water, just like you should not drink the tank water, the tank water is alive with bacteria, and some may be harmful.

My boss left his Maltese dog with a friend and went on a trip, the friend let the dog out in the yard where the dog drank some water from the pond behind the house.

The dog was dying by the time he got back from the trip a couple days later, and the vets didn't know what happened and thought he ate something bad and treated for a stomach issue. He had it autopsied and there was some bacteria from the lake water that infected his brain.

So,my advice animals shouldn't be allowed to drink untreated/unfiltered water, it can end badly if the wrong bacteria is present in the water and they get enough of it.

 

I dunno about the glass lid or if the cat could break the tank or not, but you should not allow the cat to drink the tank water, just like you should not drink the tank water, the tank water is alive with bacteria, and some may be harmful.

My boss left his Maltese dog with a friend and went on a trip, the friend let the dog out in the yard where the dog drank some water from the pond behind the house.

The dog was dying by the time he got back from the trip a couple days later, and the vets didn't know what happened and thought he ate something bad and treated for a stomach issue. He had it autopsied and there was some bacteria from the lake water that infected his brain.

So,my advice animals shouldn't be allowed to drink untreated/unfiltered water, it can end badly if the wrong bacteria is present in the water and they get enough of it.

Lol thanks for the very long winded explanation on why I know my cat shouldn't drink the tank water. Soooo, how do you stop cats from doing whatever they please?

I think the worst thing that can happen if the glass lid breaks is that the cat can get seriously injured on the broken glass while in panic.

My thoughts exactly! This is why I went back to putting the old lid on at night when we can't watch him. So he doesn't end up with a split paw and so my fish don't get hurt either

My concern would mostly be in how well the center is supported. Glass can actually flex a lot more than you’d expect lol If it’s fully supported it should be fine. A 20 long is a bit, er, long. So as long as the center has support, should be good as the force wound transmit evenly through the walls and to the base.

It does not, its an aqueon top so its like 5mm thick if that, I compromised with the little bugger....I told him you stay off daddy's new tank top during the day, I'll put the old one on at night so you can sill sit with your fishes lol

You can prevent the cat from going up there a couple of ways:

1. Pepper on the glass. Messy it but works.

2. Cover the glass with double sided tape. This is very annoying to the cat and will not hurt it.

I'm afraid if I do the double sided tape he will freak out and lose it to the point of hurting himself or the tank and fish. We've had bad expierneces with tape...he and tape are mortal enemies lol

That exploding tank thing won't happen, the worst thing that will happen is the cat falls in the tank and gets wet.

And ruins my living room I'd probably die laughing after the anger from wrecking my tank subsided

I dunno about the glass lid or if the cat could break the tank or not, but you should not allow the cat to drink the tank water, just like you should not drink the tank water, the tank water is alive with bacteria, and some may be harmful.

My boss left his Maltese dog with a friend and went on a trip, the friend let the dog out in the yard where the dog drank some water from the pond behind the house.

The dog was dying by the time he got back from the trip a couple days later, and the vets didn't know what happened and thought he ate something bad and treated for a stomach issue. He had it autopsied and there was some bacteria from the lake water that infected his brain.

So,my advice animals shouldn't be allowed to drink untreated/unfiltered water, it can end badly if the wrong bacteria is present in the water and they get enough of it.

Also I never said I just let him drink the water. He is reprimanded during the day and made to stop and he's only done it like twice in front of me but I cannot sit up all night with him to ensure he doesn't do anything he isn't supposed to be doing.

 

I dunno about the glass lid or if the cat could break the tank or not, but you should not allow the cat to drink the tank water, just like you should not drink the tank water, the tank water is alive with bacteria, and some may be harmful.

My boss left his Maltese dog with a friend and went on a trip, the friend let the dog out in the yard where the dog drank some water from the pond behind the house.

The dog was dying by the time he got back from the trip a couple days later, and the vets didn't know what happened and thought he ate something bad and treated for a stomach issue. He had it autopsied and there was some bacteria from the lake water that infected his brain.

So,my advice animals shouldn't be allowed to drink untreated/unfiltered water, it can end badly if the wrong bacteria is present in the water and they get enough of it.

Iti is 21 she has always drunk my fish tank water, she loves warm water in general, it doesn't seem to have done her any harm.

 

Iti is 21 she has always drunk my fish tank water, she loves warm water in general, it doesn't seem to have done her any harm.

Do what you like, maybe its never any problem, but maybe one day there is.
There's all kinds of things that can turn up in freshwater that can devastate mammals that don't affect fish. It's why when outdoors it's recommended to boil water collected before drinking it.
It may be fine, it may not. Depends what's living in the water.

 

Reminder guys, this thread isn't about whether tank water will hurt a cat or other animals
(Interesting subject though!)

The topic is as the title states

"My cat and a glass lid, will he break it?"​

 

Depends on the cat; our orange tabby used to spend all day fishing for guppies on the lid and never broke anything (also never caught anything); but i have heard stories of less fortunate outcomes.

 

Haven't had any of mine actually break an aqueon lid although they've bowed the polycarbon ones. For a while I used an expandable clothes hook thing I picked up at a garage sale to dissuade them from getting up there. Lightweight & easier to wrangle than another covering. None of them wanted to sit on uncomfortable pegs & during the day I folded them up & dropped 'em behind the aquarium.

 

Haven't had any of mine actually break an aqueon lid although they've bowed the polycarbon ones. For a while I used an expandable clothes hook thing I picked up at a garage sale to dissuade them from getting up there. Lightweight & easier to wrangle than another covering. None of them wanted to sit on uncomfortable pegs & during the day I folded them up & dropped 'em behind the aquarium.

Lol my boy would probably just sit on top of them, but that story made me laugh thinking of him figuring out how to do it. I left the lid on today and when I got home he didn't seem to have broken anything so I'm getting more confident with him being around it